1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a camera system for transmitting camera image data to a network, and pertains to a camera system suitable for remote monitoring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, video cameras have been connected to web servers, and web browsers have been used over a network (e.g., the Internet, intranet, extranet) to remotely control mechanical video camera operations, such as panning, tilting, zooming and focusing, and the cameras' irises and shutter speed, in order to enjoy video taken by the cameras. Such systems are described in, for example, the publication of Patent Application 1998-51674.
In order to enjoy remote video with such systems, the mechanical parts are controlled through a network. In such cases, the camera image has normally been a daytime image, and it has been sufficient for the image quality to be uniform as long as it could be simply viewed.
However, with outdoor cameras and the like which are used for remote monitoring, because they are used for monitoring, proper viewing ability is required at all times even if there are environmental changes, such as dramatic changes in brightness and luminance between daytime and nighttime. In addition, on a given image, it must be possible to properly view even bright areas and dark areas. Such cases have been problematic in that proper viewing in accordance with environmental changes and conditions has not been possible.
In addition, because panning, tilting, zooming, and the like require the control of mechanical parts, maintenance is necessary, which has been a factor in increasing costs for remote monitoring.
In addition, with cameras and the like which are used for remote monitoring, because they are used for monitoring, in many cases it is desirable to process camera images in order to extract features of the monitored subject. Accordingly, the placement of an image processing unit on the Web server end has been considered.
An advantage of Web servers is that multiple people can view an image through multiple computers. Monitoring, however, requires real-time capability. More specifically, if an image processing unit is placed on the Web server end, then requests from multiple computers cannot be processed in real time. In addition, if complex image processing is performed so as to satisfy the requests of all computers, then the load on the Web server will be excessive and monitoring will be impeded. In addition, because the Web server is controlled through computers, the image processing results for a request from one computer end up being sent to other computers as well, which has been a problem.